YAWA: Your Events Diary For December

The darkest days of the year are upon us here in the Northern hemisphere, so our thoughts turn to Christmas and our hopes and dreams for the perfect garden and plot next year. However, if you're fed up of curling up in front of the fire and fancy something a bit more outdoorsy, then the You Ask, We Answer team have found the following gems to whet your appetite.

Anytime: Want to blow away those winter blues and cobwebs? Getting out for a brisk walk during the daylight hours, particularly on a cold, crisp, clear morning could be the perfect antidote. Here's some ideas of where to go.
Throughout December - Christmas Markets, Fairs and Fayres. Many of our towns and cities hold some kind of Christmas market, usually in early December. I've had the pleasure of attending events in Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, York and the Eden Project so far. This website has details of all of these, plus all others in the UK and much further afield in Europe and the USA. A great way to get in the festive mood.
Until 8th December: The Mistletoe Festival in Tenbury Wells continues. Mistletoe auctions will be held on December 1st and 8th, and the Mistletoe Queen will be crowned on December 5th. If you're buying fresh mistletoe for your decorations this year, it's likely to have come from here.

5-6th: Tree Dressing Day. A new 'tradition' started by Common Ground in 1990, to celebrate our trees by decorating them on the first full weekend in December. Note that these decorations are not usually Christmas ones, though judging by what happens in Chippenham, it's also the time when most people put theirs up.

8th: Holy Thorn Ceremony, Glastonbury. The eldest pupil at St. John's School will cut the branch from the legendary winter flowering Glastonbury Thorn, which will be sent to the Queen as a Christmas greeting.

21st: Winter Solstice. Be of good cheer, the days will be getting longer from now on :)

25th: Happy Christmas everyone!

26th: Boxing Day aka St. Stephens Day in Ireland. The traditional starting day for pantomimes and for mummers plays to be performed. Marshfield's is the closest one I know of and other ones not far away from here are at Gloucester and Langport.

31st: New Year's Eve. Hogmanay in Scotland is the event tonight. However, if you want to party in Edinburgh, you'll need to get your tickets in advance. Here's all the details you need. If you're looking for something more dramatic, then Stonehaven's Fireballs Festival could be just the thing. Across the border in Northumberland, there's also flaming tar barrels in Allendale, a tradition dating back to medieval times.

Comments

  1. petoskystone30 November 2009 at 14:55

    a busy month! OT- am thinking of putting shrubs in large containers in the spring, specifically rosa canina & a hawthorne....reading of the glastonbury thorn reminded me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The bike shed30 November 2009 at 15:19

    I recall watching the tar barrels in Northumberland when I lived there - I think they do something similar in somerset?

    All this and the school nativity plays too - they are the best of all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. VP30 November 2009 at 15:28

    Petoskystone - if you're planting dog rose and hawthorn, that'd better be an extremely large container! And yes, the Glastonbury Thorn is related to the hawthorn, but it flowers twice a year, around now and at the more usual time.

    Mark - are you thinking of Ottery St Mary in Devon? Their tar barrels burn in November and might be related to the Gunpowder Plot rather than the more pagan roots of those held on New Years Eve.

    ReplyDelete
  4. petoskystone30 November 2009 at 16:21

    have seen where some use hawthorn cultivars for the larger size (3-4 ft.) bonsai. rosa multiflora & dog rose are considered invasive by some, so living in a rental, large containers are preferable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anna30 November 2009 at 23:02

    That's a cheering photo at the top of your post VP. Himself is whizzing me off to a Christmas market soon to celebrate a special occasion :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cindee30 November 2009 at 23:29

    Oh, How envious I am of your wonderful English celebrations - Mistletoe Festivals, Burning Tar Barrels, The Cutting of the Glastonbury Thorn. Here in the US, everyone is so careful about being politically correct, that they have taken all the fun away. No one wishes you a Merry Christmas anymore- It's Happy Holidays instead. And forget children's nativity plays in the schools. Many schools don't even have Christmas trees anymore. We have become homogenized and boring.
    Alas...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gail1 December 2009 at 01:03

    I love Winter Solstice celebrations and knowing the days are getting longer! gail

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP5 January 2010 at 20:59

    Hi everyone - hope you enjoyed December's events even if you weren't able to join in with some of the more unusual ones I found.

    ReplyDelete

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